Material handling mechanism



June 14, 1960 1 E, Mol-(EE ErAL MATERIAL HANDLING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 10, 1958 Bajas, f6-alu 4 Wfam ATTORNEYS June 14, 1960 J, E, MGKEE ETAL 2,940,506

MATERIAL HANDLING MECHANISM JAMes E. Mc Ku A... John L. RIHMAN Troiani-ys June 14, 1960 J, E. McKEE ETAL 2,940,506

' MATERIAL HANDLING MECHANISM Filed July 1o, 195s v 3 sheets-sheet s 'l INVENToR 4 Jmns E. Mc Yu: m

Y b Jenn L. RfnmAN 7 3x1/esl 75mm i fl/5.36m

MATERIAL HANDLING NIECHANISM James E. McKee, Cuyahoga Falls, and John L. Rahman, Barberton, Ohio, assignors to The Akron Standard Mold Company, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed July 1o, 195s, ser. No. 747,792

1o claims. (c1. 15e- 42) This invention relates in general to machines for handling strip or sheet material in a generally continuous process, and more particularly to an apparatus for splicing or securing together adjacent ends of individual strips or batches of such sheet material, for the eiective handling of the material in a generally uninterrupted manner by the machine.

Machines of the above mentioned type are utilized in a variety of indiustrial applications, such as for instance, the handling and processing of uncured sheet or strip rubber material; such uncured rubber sheet material may be efficiently removed from a mixing mill or similar cornpound mixer device by such a machine generally known in the rubber industry as a batch-off machine, after which the latter may pass the sheet material to other equipment for Yfurther processing. Such a batch-off machine and associated processing equipment generally require, or are preferably provided with, an endless strip of sheet rubber material, and therefore the problem arises of splicing adjacent ends of individual batches of rubber material as they are taken olf the mixing mill in sheet or strip form, and commence their progression through the continuous processing or handling equipment.

The present invention provides a novel splicer mechanism for use in providing an endless strip of sheet stock material which may be produced in or from individual batches or runs, and then splicing or connecting the adjacent ends of the individual batches of the stock material together in an expeditious manner by means of the aforementioned splicer mechanism. The splicer mechanism may either be operator actuated and controlled or may be controlled in an automatic system for sequential automatic actuation in a continuous cycle of operation of the associated machine.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a splicer mechanism for splicing together adjacent and overlapping ends of individual strips of pliable or plastic-like material, to form the latter into an endless run of such material.`

Another object of the invention is to provide a splicer mechanism of the above mentioned type which is iluid `actuated and which is effective to crimp the overlapping Iends of the pliable material into positive interlocking relationship, to form a continuous run of such material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a splicer mechanism comprising opposed, rotatable, gear elements between which overlapped ends of the sheets of material which are to `be spliced together are passed, together with a uid actuated motor unit which is adapted to selectively vmove at least one of the gears into and out of coaction `with the other of the gears to thereby cause embedding of the gear teeth in the overlapping ends of the material being spliced, thereby deforming or crimping, and thus A still further object of theinvention is to provide strip handling mechanism in conjunction with the above nited States Patent 'connecting the latter material into an uninterrupted run. Y

2,940,506 Patented June 14, 1960 fice Fig. 1 is a side elevational, partially sectioned view of a machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, end elevational view taken substantially along the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, diagrammatic illustration ofthe coaction between the teeth of the gear 'elements of the splicer mechanism when the latter is in operative or splicing position.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, broken, fragmenary view taken substantially along line 4-4 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring again to the drawings, there is shown a machine generally designated by reference number 10 which may be of the aforementioned batch-off type and which is adapted for the continual handling and/ or processing of strip or sheet-like stock material, such as uncured rubber material. A mixing mill or compounding device of conventional type and generally referred to by number 12, is disposed at the head end of machine 10 for feeding strips or sheets of stock material to the machine. "Ihe machine 10 comprises the frame-work 14 on which are mounted various components of the machine including rollers 16 and 18 which have endless belts or tapes 16a and 18a respectively,associated therewith for progressing the stock material A through the machine. Rollers 16 and 1S and associated tapesor belts 16a and 18a are driven by a. motor 19 mounted on the machine frame 14 and operatively connected to the latter rollers and belts by a drive chain 19a and other conventional driving mechanism not forming part oi'. the instant invention andY therefore not shown. Motor 19 is also operatively connected by means of pulley or sprocket Ztl and chain or belt 22 to a sprocket or pulley element '24, secured to shaft 24a journaled on frame 14 by means of bearing structure 26 (Fig. 2). Thus upon driving of sprocket member 20 by motor 19, sprocket member 24 and associated shaft 24a rotate therewith. Chain 22 is also entrained about -idler pulley or sprocket 26 rotatably mounted on frame 14 and about sprocket 28 which is secured to a shaft 28a (Figs. 1 and 4). Shaft 28a is rotatably mounted on main frame 14 by bracket and bearing structure 29 (Fig. 4) and has a drum element 30 secured theretofor carrying and driving an endless belt 32 entrained about drum 30 and a longitudinally spaced associated drum 34 (Fig. l). Drum 34 is journaled and supported on frame work 36 which in combination with belt 32, provides a work table or platform 40 which is hinged as at 38 `to shaft 28a for pivotal adjusting movement in a generally vertical plane, the maximum pivotal movement of such platform being illustrated in dot-dash lines in Fig. 1. A double acting duid powered piston and cylinder motor unit 41 is provided for so adjusting the position of work platform 40. Mounted above belt 32 in generally straddled relation therewith and supported on framework 36 is an auxiliary platform structure 42. Platform .42 at its outer or right hand end (as viewed in Figs. 1 and 4) includes an idle roller member 44. Roller 44 is journaled to rocker structure 43 (Fig. 4) of platform 42 and is resiliently maintained in apredeterniined position with respect to main work platform 49 by tension springs 43a. Platform 42 is adapted to receive in flipped-over supporting relation, the free, trailf ing end of the strip or run A of stock material-preparatory to the placing of the latter in overlapped relation with the leading end,4 of anew strip or run B (Fig. l) of stock material coming olf the mixing mill device, 12.

, Y f I s Endless belt 32 and associated'Y supporting drum members 30'and 34, together with auxiliary platform or rack 42 and associated idler roller member 44, therefore define a astrosetiV work structure for readily handling and vpositioning ad- Y jacent ends of individual runs or strips'of stock materiaL for the expeditious splicing thereof, V-in a manner :to be hereinafter described in detail.

In accordance with the invention, a splicer mechanism generally designated by number 46 is provided vfor'connecting together the adjacent ends of individual'strips or batches of stock material such Yas the aforementioned runs.

A and B, for progression through the machine 10. Mechanism ,46 comprises, in general, a double-acting, duid-operated piston and cylinder motorunit 4S,l sets of rotatable stitcher `gear elements S and 52 respectively,

Yadapted for intermeshing coactionV with one anotherV and with the overlapped ends of the'individual stock sheets or strips which are to be spliced, Vand linkage means 54 Y operatively connecting the piston rod 56 of motor unit 48 to the stitchergear elements 50,Y for `moving the latter into Y and out of coacting relation with the other of the stitcher gear elements 52. Motor unit y48 is pivotally connected at one iendyas at 58, to framework 1'4, and-the outer end oftheV piston rod 56 thereof is provided'with a cle/vis 60 which is pivotally connected asiat 62 to an adjacentY end of crank or lever member 64 V(Figs. l and 2,);- `Crank 64 is secured at *its other end =to shaft 66 `which is suitably journaled in'lbearing structure 66afmounted on frame 14. Bearing structure 66a is removably connected to frame 14 for limited adjusting movement Vin a vertical direction,

jby'means of fastener elements 68 in connection with verti- Ad- Y justing bolts l7.9 coacting with nut elements 7 0a secured to" cally elongated slots 68a inplate 69 of the` frame.

plate 69, are'forreadilyV adjusting the vertical position of ybearingstmcture 66a and associatedshaftf66 with respect to plate l69. Secured to shaft 66 adjacent the ends thereof are a pair of clevislike linking or lever members 72 which Yin turn .are pivotally connected, -as at 74, to the free endso'f link elements 76 secured to collar members 78 which-are supported 4for relative rotary movement on a shaft 80. Y

Shaft S0 and associated rotatable stitching gear elemeritsV 50'are mountedon frame 14 for pivotal or swinging movement in a generally vertical arc by arm elements 82 (Fig. 1) connected at one end to the shaft -80 and at the other end being pivotally mounted on a rod or shaft 84 Yextending transversely of frame 14, such rod or shaft being supported adjacent its outer ends by frame 14 (Fig. 2). The bottom or lower stitcher gear elements 52 are secured to the aforementioned shaft 24a which as aforesaid is power driven by motor unit 19. It will be noted that the lower gear elements 52 are rotatably mounted on a substantially fixed axis while' the upper Y Vgear elements 50 are rotatably Ymovable axis.

mounted on .a pivotal or Y Operation of the mechanism to effect splicing of adjacent `ends of individual runs or batches of sheet stock material Vis as follows: YWhen -the trailing end of sheet or` run A ofgstock material reaches lthe outer end of loading orvconveyor structure 40, or is severed fromthe remainder of the sheet of material at thisA position, whatever vthe Vcasefmay be, the free end ofsheet A is then ilipped 'over the pltformor rack structure 42 mounted on platform V40jasr`shown in Fig. l of the drawings. The leading end`V androtation of gear elements 52, as well'as vforward nioyemenlt of belt 32.Y In addition, motor unit A19 causes Pactuation'ormovement of 'belts 16a and VV185'; in synchro- .with Yb elt ,32 and vgear-S52,V` and thus advancing -strips olf platform or rack structure 42, around idler roll 44, and down into overlying or overlapped relation with the leading end of strip or batch B ofstock material which is advanced toward the machine 10 by endless belt 32 of conveyor 40. When the overlapped ends of batches A and B of stock material reach the splicer mechanism 46, motor unit 48 is actuated thereby projecting the piston rod 56 thereof outwardly from its inactive position as shown in full-lines in Fig. l, to cause pivotal movement of lever 64 Vand rotational movement of supporting shaft 65 and associated downward pivotal movement of links 72 about the axis of shaft 66. In Fig. l, indotdash lines, are shownthe positions of lever 6,4 and links 72 and 76 in the energized or full forward stroke position of the piston rod 56 of motor unit `48. -Pivoting of links 72 causes straightening or inward* movement of links 76 thereby causing downward movement of stitcher gears t 50 about their pivotal connection -84 to frame 14. Gear elements 50 move downward'into Vpartially meshing'eu- Fig. 3 of the drawings,only .partial engagement occurs between the `teeth rof stitching gear elements 50 and'52, with a clearance existing between the pitch circles 50a and 52a respectively ofsuch gears. This partial meshing of the gears insures that the overlapped ends of the strips of pliable material canpass 4between the'coacti'ng teeth of the gears and will not be perforated by the gear teeth, but will be merely corrugated and squeezed into crimped Y interlocking relation. The clearance between the pitch lines can be adjusted somewhat bythe aforementioned adjusting structure 63, 63a, 79 land 70a of bearing struc-V ture66a. The overlapped endsV of the stock material are supported by table or shelf structure 96 for feeding of the ends into the stitching orsplicing mechanism 46 at a slightly upwardly inclined or tipped position, as can be best seen in Fig. l of the drawings. This expedites the feeding of the stock material into the splicing mechanism yfor the effective Vjoining together of the adjacent, overlapped ends thereof. After passing through the stitcher mechanism 46, the spliced sheets of stock material A and B are drawn by belts 16a and 18a through the machine 10 for generally further processing operations. As may be readily seen from Fig. l, when the gear elements 50 are in operative or splicing position (as shown in dotdash lines in the latter gure)the linkage elements 7-2, 7 6 are disposed in generally columnar relationship, thereby providing an effective and positive embedding of the gear teeth into the sandwiched, overlapping ends of stock material, with substantially no reaction force being exerted 'on motor unit 48. As aforementioned, the splicer mechanism may be operator controlled or may be disposed in an automatic control system for sequential automatic actuation and deactuation in a continuous cycle of operation of the associated machine. lSystems for accomplishing the latter automatic control are known in the art Y land would preferably include such components as timer Aand Binthe direction of ,the entrance end of machine units, solenoid actuated control valvesetc. suitably keyed in a conventional manner in-to the main system used for controlling the operations of the associated machine, such as the aforementioned batch-od machine. Y

vFrom the Yforegoing descriptionr and accompanying drawings it will be seen that the invention provides novel mechanism' for expeditiously splicing or connecting to- Ygether adjacent overlapping ends of individual sheets or strips of pliable or low-recovery plastic-like stock material, to form a continuous -run of such material. The invention also provides conveyoror'platform :mechanism for use in 'conjunction'with the above splier'apparatus `to expeditiously handleV and position the endsV of theindividual strips or `sheets, of. material that are to be v conf nected, for overlapping relationship and subsequent progression thereof through'Y the splicer or connecting mechanism.

The terms and expressions which have been used are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of any of the features described or shown or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

We claim:

1. A splicer mechanism for crimping together overlapping strips of pliable plastic-like material, such as rubber, of substantial thickness comprising, a frame, at least one pair of generally vertically opposed rotatable toothed elements mounted on said frame and adapted to receive therebetween said pliable material, the lower one of said elements being mounted on an axis xed relative to said frame, means for power driving said one element, the other of said elements being mounted on an axis movable relative to said frame, said other element being swingable into and out of generally partial meshing relation with said one element, a reciprocable fluid powered motor unit mounted on said name, and linkage means operatively connecting said motor unit to said other element for swinging the latter into and out of said meshing relation with said one element, said elements when in said meshing relation being adapted to deform the overlapped portions of said material to thereby connect the same together, and an endless power driven conveyor arranged to support the material and feed the latter into the bite of said elements.

2. A splicer mechanism for connecting together into unitary form individual overlapping strips of pliable plastic-like material, such as rubber, of substantial thickness comprising, an upright frame, sets of generally vertically opposed rotatable spur gear elements mounted on said frame and adapted to receive therebetween said pliable material, said sets being disposed in laterally spaced generally aligned relation with respect to one another, the lower one of said gear elements of each set being mounted on an axis fixed relative to said frame, the other of said gear elements being mounted on an axis swingable in a predetermined arc relative to said frame, a reciprocable fluid powered piston and cylinder unit mounted on said frame above said gear elements, and linkage means operatively connecting the piston rod of said unit to said other element for swinging the latter into and out of generally partial meshing relation with said one element to thereby crimp the pliable material disposed therebetween into interlocking relation, said linkage means comprising a shaft extending transverse relative to said frame, a lever secured at one end to said shaft and pivotally connected at the other end thereof to said piston rod or' said unit, a second lever secured to said shaft and disposed at a radial angle with respect to said rst mentioned lever, a link connected to the free end of said second mentioned lever and rotatably connected at the other end thereof to said other element, said levers and said link being operative to swing said other element into said meshing relation with said first element upon outward movement of said piston rod with respect to its associated cylinder, and an endless belt-type conveyor arranged to support the material and feed the latter into the bite of said elements, said conveyor including means for driving the conveyor in synchronism with said one element of each of said sets.

3. A splicer mechanism in accordance with claim 2 wherein said link and said second mentioned lever are disposed in columnar relation when said other gear element is disposed in meshing relation with said one gear element.

4. In combination, a splicer mechanism for connecting together overlapping adjacent ends of pliable sheet-like material and means for placing said ends in said overlapping relationship prior to their passing through said splicer mechanism, said means comprising a material receiving platform including a conveyor belt defining the upper surface of said platform, and a rack structure disposed in generally straddled relation to said conveyor belt, said rack comprising means for receiving a flippedover terminal end of one of said sheets of material, and means for driving said conveyor belt in a direction to advance the leading end of the other of said sheets of material to accomplish the overlapping of said ends.

5. In the combination dei-ined by claim 4 wherein said material receiving platform is pivotally mounted for swinging movement in a generally vertical plane.

6. In the combination of claim 5 wherein said material receiving platform is pivoted by means of a uid operated reciprocable motor unit.

7. In the combination of claim 4 wherein an idler roller is provided on the rearward end of said rack structure to facilitate the movement of said one sheet of stock material from said rack structure into overlapping relation with the leading end of said other sheet of stock material.

8. In the combination of claim 4 wherein said splicer mechanism comprises a pair of opposed gear elements, said elements being mounted so as to be movable relative to one another into and out of meshing relation, and means operatively connected to at least one of said elements for controlling said relative movement thereof.

9. in an apparatus of handling and processing pliable plastic-like material in sheet form, the combination of means for positioning adjacent ends of individual sheets of said material in overlapping relation and means for splicing said overlapped end portions together, said first mentioned means comprising a material receiving platform including an endless conveyor belt deiining the upper surface of said platform and a secondary platform disposed in generally straddled relation to said belt and supported on said first platform, said second mentioned means comprising sets of vertically opposed gear elements, said elements being movable with respect to one another into and out of meshing relation, and power means for accomplishing said movement of said elements, said sets of gear elements being disposed in generally aligned relation with said belt for receiving therebetween said material from said first platform, said elements upon actuation of said power means being moved into said meshing relation whereby the teeth of said elements are embedded into said overlapped ends of said material, thereby crimping and squeezing said overlapped ends together to form the individual sheets of material into a continuons run.

10. In an apparatus in accordance with claim 9 wherein said gear elements are rotatable, one set of said elements being mounted on a fixed axis, the other set of said elements being mounted on an axis swingable with respect to said first axis for moving said elements into and out of said meshing relation, and power means operatively connected to said one set oi elements and to said belt for driving the same in s nchronism with one another.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Stunkel -s June 2.2, 1948 

